Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-06-21
IRRIGATION AND PROSPERITY.
Some of the Movements in this D.arec.
ton and Results.


a meeting of delegates fro.n all parts of
Tulare county was held Saturday, when it
was decided to petition. the Board of Super
visors of that couLry for the formation of
two irrigation districts under the Wright
bill, Kings River District to embrace 800
COO scres, and the Kaweah River District,
embracing 100000 acres. A third district
to embrace irrigabie land tributary to the
Canals from the Tule river win probably be
formed later.
The people of the San Joaauin valley
know the benefits to be derived from ap-
plying water to land, and SO convinced are
they that they protect jhei. water rights
with shotguns even against DEGREES of
Courts.
The RECORD UNION has urged the i'm
portance of forming corn panies and bring
ing in water from the abundance in the
foothills to supply Sacramento county, and
that with this our lands will soon be so
| valuable as to compel their being cut up
sold in small holdings, and trebling their
vatue This work will not be long de-
| layed, for the enterprising real estate men
eTd money makers of Southern California
are already spying out the land and
| lave had their hresths almost taken away
ct the unappreciated opportunities for
securing fabulously valuable water rights
in this section. 1t will be but few months
| before the declarations for appropriation
| of water from the mountain sources will
! be so numerous that the water will not go
around to the companies who propose to
bring it to the foothills and valleys, but the
| abundance will come and prosperity will
abound in proportion.
| The Coluss Sun of the 18th inst. has the
| following concerning the importance and
result OF irrigation, even as carried on by
| pumping only:
| &C. 2. Wilson has been showing the peo-
| pie along the river at the lower end of the
county the practical value of irrigation
We hear people continually saying that this
land or that land does not need irrigation
| or that this or that land cannot stand irrige-
! ton. As we have before explained any
| land that will stand rain will stand irriga-
| ton, and if there is any land in the State
| that does not need irrigation, it is the land
| along the river. at the lower end of Colusa
county. A couple of years ago this fall
Mr. Wilson put in pump that he could
run with his thrashing engine, and flooded
and sowed some land TO alfalfa in the fall
| 1t was so good q stand and made such s
| wonderful growth, that everybody saw that
it paid. Then he watered his growing al
falfa, and it paid him more. Now he has
been moving his pump around and giving
| some of his neighbors a benefit, so that
there is not man with an eye half open
| who does not see the immense profit in
the thing. Canal irrigation is the
! cheapest that can be had, but pump
| irrigation is cheap enough 1t re.
quires 326, 700 gallons to cover an
acre one foot deep. Now, if we can
| get land enough into a contract we will
! agree to deliver 900 gallons by pump
on the top of the bank at any given point
on the Sacramento river for 81 %. This
would cover an acre foot deep and allow
$500 gallons for waste. If anybody don'l
| think that that will pay, even for wheat
let him go down on the island and see
wheat on land flooded, along side of wheat
on the same kind of land not flooded
There is over thirty bushels to the acre
difference. One will all be number one
| wheat, and most of the other number two
| so that there will be about $40 an acre
| difference in this crop. And this flooded
land was not flooded this year, but last year
| Flooding once i'll two years is big thing
| for wheat. Now pump irrigation viii pay
| on the Sacramento river, or on any of the
land that is between the river and the
bottom of the trough on either side, but il
| will not pay from wells. There should be
| sufficient water to cover an acre from five
| to ten minutes, and certainly not Longer
than half an hour. Ifw were going into
| the business we would fix to cover an acre
a foot deep over five minutes. But, as We
have said, canal is cheaper and better
| than all this, even for river lands. We
| cannot close these remarks on pump irriga
ton without reminding the reader of the
fact that Cyrus P. Wilson is public bene
| factor"